Grief and Punishment
by mikewebb1211
Summary: AU. Vortex (my OC) deals with the fallout of the Punishers murder. This story will cross over with Marvel comics, DC comics, Sin City, and various movies including the LOTR, POTC and others. This is my first story, and it isn't an origin story, Enjoy! PS. I only own Vortex, everything else belongs to their respective owners/creators. PPS. Please rate and review, I love feedback.


'_I get _the_ Daily Bugle mailed overnight to my apartment every day. __Some of my neighbors wonder why since New York is roughly a day and a half from here by car. __It's only the neighbors though. __Anyone beyond the apartment won't even look in our direction __because they're scared. __Can't really blame them though. __They've probably seen Victor and Kaine start a barroom brawl, Michael going for one of his midnight rides or simply gotten a look at Vortex going to Katy's for a couple drinks and a visit to see his blond friend, what's her name...? __Oh yeah! Nancy. __That girl's a class act, probably one of the only friends we've got anywhere but Old Town. __I'm letting my mind wander again. __Gotta love my other half for bringing my head out of the metaphorical clouds cause these real clouds could probably kill even Victor with their toxicity. __I finally push out of the chair and move to the door where I know the frightened delivery boy is standing on the other side trying not to think about the monsters that live in this building. __I grab the knob and turn it knowing already that the boy has bolted for the lobby doors and found sanctuary in the streets where he knows who the monsters are. __Some people will fantasize about what it would be like to have so called '_superpowers_' but they're not all that glory that the kids fantasize over. Sometimes, they can be your greatest curse.'_ The muscular man pulled the door open to grab the large stack of newspapers that had just arrived from New York. Upon returning to the chair he had been sitting in, Eddie Brock flipped open today's edition of the Daily bugle to the section he deemed "The Super-Section" meaning the section that always covered meta-human activities whether mutant, human, alien or otherwise. As his keen journalist eyes perused the page he noticed an article that made him pause. 'ANCIENT UNDERWATER CAVERN FOUND NEAR ELLIS ISLAND! Mysterious carvings have been found that seem to archive the past and predict future events. The Department of Defense is sending in H.A.M.M.E.R. To collect data.' It was then that Eddie Brock realized that he knew of that cavern and that Vortex wanted everything about it kept top secret. He shot out of the chair and grabbed the cell phone that had his leader and friend on speed dial. After two rings Vortex picked up. "Brock, you better have a really good reason for calling me during one of Nancy's shows." Came the irritated growl of Vortex's voice. "Sorry for interrupting but Osborn's agency just found Ozymandias in New York." Over at Katy's Saloon, Vortex nearly threw his table across the room in horror. "How did they find him?" he asked in barely above a whisper. "I'm not exactly sure." was Brock's response. Vortex's chest felt like it was going to explode from panic but outwardly his demeanor was calm like the few minutes of nice weather before a hurricane. He sat there seething for a moment before he started talking again. "Do we have any idea if they found the seer himself or just the cave?" After a minute Brock responded. "From what I'm looking at he's hiding out pretty well. They've only found the first layer of the cavern." At that statement Vortex almost relaxed but was still spooked at the mere thought of Norman Osborn gaining access to the stone chronicles of past, present and future as seen in the mind of the blind Egyptian sculptor. "Have everyone get together and meet me at Nancy's place. We'll figure out how to screw up the Green Geeks plans from there. Also have your suits on underneath whatever civvies you'll be wearing." He then switched off the phone and started trying to focus on the remainder of Nancy's performance. He had to admit that for a stripper she was a pretty high-class girl. Nancy Callahan had always been a bright child but as she grew older she threw herself into learning everything possible to be able to survive in Sin City, as it was known outside of the city limits. She devoured books on law and psychology and even taught herself how to fire a pistol. Being as intelligent as she was, she knew that her looks would provide a steady source of income for her to survive on and became a stripper and worked in Katy's Saloon. It was the perfect job. The money was good, the hours were fair, and all the employees watched each other's backs and cared for each other like a family. She even made good friends from some of the people who came for a brew including all of Vortex's friends and teammates. She and Vortex became very close, seeing as they both understood how difficult their lives had become. As Vortex watched her dance, his mind suddenly began thinking back to when he had encountered Norman Osborn for the first time. Osborn had been a costumed psychopath who called himself the Green Goblin but even though his moniker was somewhat comical he was one of the most dangerous men Vortex had ever encountered. He was completely insane and possessed absolutely no morals at all as well as being a technological genius, a master at hand to hand combat, and a cunning strategist. When Vortex had first met him, he had begun to set up an agency to sell his bounty hunting skills to the highest bidder and had gotten his first client in the form of a beautiful young woman named Gwen Stacy. She had come to him with a request to find wealthy industrialist Norman Osborn. Osborn had presumably gone missing and they apparently had some business to finish up with when he had gone off the map. Vortex had found it unusual that a college physics major had business dealings with a big name like Osborn but she had provided him with a handsome bonus for not questioning her motives. He also found the amount of money she was throwing at him to be odd but he had bills to pay and kept silent about it. He had taken the job and in the process of trying to find Osborn had become good friends with her because she was one of the few people he had ever met that didn't hate and fear people like him. They had gotten very close and they had flirted with the idea of becoming more than friends but realized that wasn't the best idea. They still remained very good friends even after he had completed his assignment. It had been one day when they were sharing a coffee that Gwen had introduced Vortex to her boyfriend Peter Parker. He and Peter had taken an instant liking to each other and Vortex had voiced his approval of their relationship when, all of a sudden the Green Goblin had attacked the three of them, knocked out both Peter and Vortex and kidnapped Gwen. When the two of them came to and realized Gwen had been kidnapped, Peter went berserk. In his hysteria he accidentally revealed his identity as the costumed hero known as Spider Man. Vortex had understood and promised to carry Peter's secret to his grave. He then urged Spider Man to work with him in finding Gwen when they saw that the Goblin had left a note demanding Spider Man meet him on the Brooklyn Bridge alone or he would kill Gwen. Peter had begged Vortex to not show up for fear of The Goblin backing up that threat and Vortex said he would at a safe distance where he could provide backup if needed without alerting Osborn to his presence. Peter agreed and went to face Osborn and rescue Gwen. The two opponents had fought viciously and Spider Man won but the Goblin had managed to kill Gwen when he threw her off the bridge. Spider Man had caught her before her body hit the water but by the time he had brought her to safety she was already dead. Spider Man nearly killed Osborn in his rage and grief but held back from landing the final blow and turned him over to the authorities. They threw Osborn into prison for murder. Peter had come to Vortex's apartment that night and broke down emotionally. During his grief, Peter also revealed that the Goblin was an alter ego for Osborn himself. Vortex tried to comfort him as best as he could without succumbing to his own grief and Peter left the next day with a lot of emotional baggage but he was a lot more stable than he had been just after her death. Vortex had left town a few days later because he felt there were too many memories there for him to be able to do what he needed the right way but told Spider Man to keep in touch. Armed with the knowledge that the Green Goblin and Norman Osborn were one and the same, Vortex had begun to shake down some contacts he had that had been connected to both Osborn and his alter ego to find the connection between him and Gwen Stacy and had found out that she and Osborn had had an affair just before she and Peter had gotten serious in their relationship and he had gotten her pregnant with twins. When she found out that he wanted to breed super powered children with her for him to control, she immediately left him. When she had gotten kidnapped, she had been preparing to tell Peter about her involvement with Osborn because she knew that Peter would understand and she wanted to raise the twins with him as a part of her family. She had hired Vortex to find Osborn's location in the hopes that he was out of the country so she could get to his records of her and erase everything he knew about her for the safety of herself, the twins, and everyone she cared for. When Vortex discovered this, he vowed to one day bring Osborn down no matter what and doggedly followed Osborn's life in an obsession that, while it didn't consume him, it never was far from his mind. As he continued to dwell on those dark memories he felt his phone vibrate again. He looked at the caller ID and blinked in surprise. "Hello Peter, haven't heard from you in a while. How are you lately?" When Peter responded he sounded both sad and just a little scared. "Hey big guy, I got bad news." Peter Parker paused and took a few breaths before continuing. "Vortex I found out that Norman Osborn has started targeting certain super-humans and vigilantes that have made attempts on his life or that are becoming a threat to his position in H.A.M.M.E.R and one of the names on his hit list is the Punisher." Vortex felt his blood run cold at what that could imply. "Frank's been eluding the authorities, including SHIELD, for years. There's no way Osborn and his half-wits can catch him." Vortex said trying to convince himself as much as Peter. "Big guy that's just it! He's dead! One of Osborn's mutant goons caught up to him last night and tore him to pieces. I couldn't believe it but I saw the guy cut Frank's head off. There's no way he could survive. I'm sorry man."


End file.
